the trouble with girls
by Shamelsshussy
Summary: Dani is a cool chick and Santana is totally going to talk to her. Definitely. At some point. In the future.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this after I saw the promos for 5x02, but before I saw the episode. So it's sorta like what happened, but not really. anyway I thought it was still cute, and I thought it addressed Santana's nervousness and interest in Dani without the problematic comments about bisexuality that the show insisted on. So I'm sharing. **

When she was younger, Santana thought it was only Brittany. Because it only ever happened with Brittany. No one else made her heart race and her body shake.

Certainly no boys ever got that reaction from Santana.

And she thought so much about Brittany other girls barely entered her field of vision.

Once in a while a glimpse of Quinn would flit through the corner of her eye. But Brittany was always close by, it was hard to distinguish what was really causing the butterflies in her stomach.

And that's how it stayed for a long time.

But then. Those Jane Addams Academy girls. Damn.

Santana chalked that up to the sheer volume of girls tossing their hair on stage. A wall of gyrating women gave everyone feelings. Right?

Well. Maybe not everyone.

By the time college rolled around, Santana knew it was more than that. But still, she didn't look at any girls for the whole first month. She was taken. By Brittany. The only individual girl who had ever made her knees weak, one on one.

But then. College girls. Damn.

Santana was tired from practice, exhausted from studying, but not too far gone to start to notice shy smiles and short skirts and just the general fact that she was a healthy teenage girl living on campus with a few tens of thousands of other vibrantly alive girls.

All of whom had no parents nearby to shout "door open!"

Even if she wasn't attracted to 90% of them, that still left a couple thousand to become increasingly fascinating. That brunette in her Spanish Lab, who, even at 9 in the morning had bubblegum breath sweet enough to make up for her hideous Spanish accent. The blonde cheerleader with the pixie cut on the B team who Santana never really had a chance to talk to but maybe avoided because talking might lead to hanging out in a group which might lead to hanging out alone and Santana was _not_ ready to hang out alone with the blonde cheerleader with the pixie cut. And.. and…

And suddenly lots of girls. Everywhere. It was amazing and terrifying and Santana was pretty sure she was the worst person ever for noticing.

She broke up with Brittany.

It seemed necessary, then it seemed like a terrible idea. But it was done. And after living with the reality of it for a while, a slightly older and very slightly wiser Santana realized that it had been a terrible idea but maybe not the worst idea ever.

Brittany might be the best girl she'd ever get; she might even end up being the last girl, one day. But she couldn't be the only girl. That wouldn't be fair to either of them.

Quinn's wine fueled experimental moment was conveniently timed. She was gorgeous.

And familiar.

Back in New York, Santana was beginning to think she might be ready to meet some girls she didn't know since she was in grade school.

Theoretically.

But she found it a little hard to know where to start. Or with who.

Or.

Um.

How.

With guys it had been easy. Guys hit on_ her_. It was nothing to shoot them down, easy to let them in when she found it useful.

With Brittany it had been natural.

With Quinn it had been...drunk.

And...that was as far as her experience went.

Now, here she was in a city full of girls that kept making her head spin and her...heart, let's say heart….throb. And she had no idea how to go about actually talking to them. Let alone kissing them. Let alone, godforbidohlordplease touching them.

Santana had no idea what to do about the gorgeous black skater chick with the cute pink buzz cut and the model cheekbones who always pointedly ignored her when they ended up waiting for the L train together, and pointedly ignored her extra hard when she was wearing that short waitress uniform.

Santana had no idea what to do about the grown woman in silky shirts and perfectly tailored business suits who occasionally lunched at the diner and always left Santana with a huge tip and a sly smile and the burning desire to rewatch some of her favorite Bette Porter sex scenes.

And she really didn't know what to do about Dani.

Not like it was a huge deal or anything.

Dani was just a girl she worked with.

A girl who just happened to have these really beautiful dark eyes.

And a warm rasp in her voice that made Santana want to lean in closer. And then closer than that.

And those tattoos, _jesuschrist._

Not to mention the swell of her breasts and the curve of her thighs that made Santana half grateful they had to spend all day in those stupid fucking uniforms, and half depressed that she couldn't see Dani in a plunging neckline or a pair of shorts or maybe um. Nothing?

And definitely not to mention the way her fingers danced on the strings of her guitar, the way her lips pursed when she tuned it, the way her breath hitched right before she started a song and the way she grinned at Santana when she ended one.

Yeah, definitely not to mention that.

Whatever, she was just a cool chick and Santana was totally going to talk to her.

Definitely.

At some point.

In the future.

A future where Santana had trained herself not to stutter or sweat or stumble over her own feet when she talked to gorgeous girls.

Until then she's just be chill. Mysterious even.

Chicks dig myst...

"Oh my god, you LIKE her!"

Rachel broke into Santanas thoughts with a shout, grinning like she wanted a prize.

"Like who?" Santana tried to act casual and keep her attention on the silverware they were sorting, but she couldn't help giving Dani a darting glance.

"Santana!" There was a lot of hand flailing on Rachel's part. Santana took half a step back to avoid the tines of a fork.

"You like _Dani_!"

"Shhhhh." Santana urgently pulled Rachel back toward her, further away from Dani, who thankfully was clear across the room anyway.

"You liiiiike her..." Rachel taunted in a sing song voice.

"God, Rachel, I will cut you with this dull knife if you don't shut up."

Rachel mimed zipping her lip. Santana knew that wouldn't last long. She took advantage of the momentary silence.

"I may have...noticed Dani." Santana admitted, avoiding Rachel's eyes.

"Santana, you were practically drooling on the counter."

"Well, ok, I may have noticed her a lot."

"So..."

"So...what?"

"So when are you going to ask her out?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that and I decided on...never."

"Santana!" Rachel smacked her in the arm. "What happened to that Lima Heights badass?"

"But...she's so pretty." Santana sighed

"You're pretty. You've dated pretty girls before." Rachel countered partly.

"Correction. I've dated a beautiful girl. Singular. And I didn't have to hit on her. Unless you count sharing my candy necklace in 5th grade as hitting on someone."

"See, you've got game." Rachel tried to raise an eyebrow in Dani's direction, but it just came off creepy.

"Never do that again, Rachel."

"If I promise, will you go talk to her?"

"Oh, yeah...NOPE."

"Ok then." Rachel pulled out her phone and started to text someone.

"What are you doing?"

"Just texting Quinn how hilarious it is that you are too scared to talk to a girl."

"Fuck, don't!"

Old rivalries died hard. Or not at all. Santana figured that those half dozen body shaking orgasms she'd given Quinn got her at least a few months of the upper hand. But if Rachel exposed this new and unfortunate weakness, all progress would be lost.

"Alright, alright, don't text Quinn."

"You're going to talk to Dani? Yay! What are you going to say?"

"I'm going to say…my roommate is annoying the hell out of me, do you have a sharper knife than this?"

"She's coming to refill ketchup!" Rachel squeaked as she saw Dani approach them.

"Oh God, i'm getting that stinky panic sweat under my boobs." Santana moaned.

Rachel shushed her just in time.

"Hey, guys."

Santana blushed at the sound of Dani's voice.

"Why yes, Santana, I'd be happy to close out your tables so you can take a break." Rachel said loudly with a broad wink.

Santana rolled her eyes. If Rachel ever became a Broadway star she'd have to do it in spite of being the worst actress ever.

"Fine. Don't steal my tips." Santana would be dammed if she said thanks for this fiasco in progress.

Rachel flitted off across the room with a little wave.

Santana slowly turned back toward Dani.

"Hey. Um. Sorry about her. She's…"

Dani grabbed a ketchup bottle and smiled at Santana. "…enthusiastic?"

"You could put it that way." Santana nodded slowly. She stood awkwardly by for a minute, watching Dani fill ketchup bottles.

"I thought you were going on a break?" Dani asked.

"Oh. Right. Yeah. But not now. Soon."

"Cause watching me fill ketchup bottles is just so fascinating you can't tear yourself away?" Dani teased.

Santana climbed onto the stool across from Dani and took a deep breath. "Actually I was thinking maybe if I waited we could go on break together?"

It came out too fast and all strung together, but Dani seemed to have gotten the idea. Anyway she was smiling and nodding.

"Help me with these and we'll be done faster."

Santana beamed and grabbed a ketchup bottle.

**Not sure if I should keep going or if I really know what more to say about Danatna yet. I dig them though!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Some more Dantana occured to me. So I put it here. Basically, my take on what happens after their little champagne party. **

"Should we move her?"

Dani pointed at Rachel, who was face down on the loft floor and starting to snore.

Santana looked down at Rachel. She never could hold her liquor.

"Nah, she'll be fine," Santana said, "What we should do is take one of these bottles of expensive champagne to my room."

Rachel's dads were flying out to take her out for a big celebratory dinner tomorrow – but they had sent a case of really good bubbly ahead so Rachel could celebrate with her friends first.

"Your room huh…?" Dani stepped closer to Santana and slid her hands over Santana's shoulders. "What makes you think I want to go to your room?" Dani asked, teasing.

"Oh, I don't know, I just have this feeling you might be…interested." Santana answered.

Santana and Dani had been trading little kisses and touches all night. Now, with Rachel passed out, Kurt in his room skyping with Blaine, and several glasses of champagne in her, Santana wasn't so quite so shy. She brushed her thumb over Dani's plump bottom lip. Dani placed a soft kiss on the pad of Santana's finger before slipping the tip of her tongue out to trace a quick circle on the same small square of skin.

"Fuck." Santana said, staring wide eyed at Dani's mouth.

"Yeah, I think we should too." Dani grinned up at Santana for a second, slid her hand's up over Santana's bear shoulder to the back of her neck.

Santana moved closer still, and bent her head to meet Dani's mouth in a sexy, sloppy open mouth kiss.

They had been flirting like maniacs for a month and officially dating for a week. There had been lots of picnic lunches and long strolls and late nights on rooftops with Dani's guitar. There had been making out until they were both breathless and aching. They weren't lacking in enthusiasm, but as two girls who both worked as many shifts as they could get, plus pounded away at auditions when they could - they were lacking in time. Tonight was the first time they both had the same night off and the same day off tomorrow. Santana was thinking maybe they could just spend it in bed, and the way Dani was pressing back against her right now, she was pretty sure the other girl was game for that plan.

"Mmm…" Dani groaned in appreciation as Santana's hands reached her ass and squeezed. It was loud enough that Kurt must have heard. Out of the corner of her eye, Santana saw him snap the curtains to his room shut more tightly. He turned up his stereo and the sound of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" blared through the apartment.

Santana snickered. But she did offer a concession.

"Would you rather go to your place?" she asked Dani.

Dani had a studio. It was miniscule. But it was her own.

"Too far." Dani mumbled between kisses.

Santana didn't disagree. Anything that required them to be fully dressed and on public transportation sounded like torture right about now.

"Conveniently, my room is right there." Santana smiled at her girlfriend. She broke away from Dani for a moment and crossed the room to grab the champagne bottle that was still chilling in a bucket of ice on the table.

Just Santana's fingers closed her fingers on the bottle Rachel's laptop, which had been on the table while they skyped everyone back in Lima, rang out with the chorus of "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Santana glanced at the screen. It was Mercedes calling. Santana was really not in the mood for a conversation, but she knew Rachel and Mercedes had been playing phone tag all day. New, soft, getting laid Santana even cared.

"One sec ok?" Santana called to Dani. "Let me just tell her that Rachel will call her tomorrow."

Dani nodded, downed the last of the champagne in her glass and walked off toward the bathroom.

Santana turned back to the screen and hit "accept call."

Mercedes face appeared on the laptop screen. "Hey Superstar!" she was saying.

"Finally addressing me by my rightful title?" Santana answered with a smirk.

"Satan!" Mercedes grinned. "Hey, girl! You guys celebrating?"

"We were, but you know Rachel, 4 drinks and she's passed out."

"Well, what's up with you then?"

"Um, some stuff…" Santana said. "But I can't really talk now. Can we call you tomorrow?"

"Sure." Mercedes said. "But does this 'some stuff' that is up have anything to do with that half naked girl in sexy underwear who is covering Rachel with a blanket?"

Santana whipped her head around to look behind her. Dani had emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of lacy black boyshorts and a matching bra. Santana gaped at the exposed expanses of smooth skin.

Dani looked up and waved at the laptop camera. Mercedes waved back and raised an eyebrow at Santana.

"Th…that's Dani." Santana stuttered. Her mouth was suddenly dry.

"Mmhmm." Mercedes nodded, stifling laughter.

"You ready, Santana?" Dani had sneaked up behind Santana and wrapped her arms around her waist. In bare feet, with Santana still in heels, she only came up to Santana's shoulder. She stood on tiptoes and bit down lightly on Santana's neck.

Santana giggled and squirmed, then flushed deep red when she realized Mercedes was still watching.

"I hate you, Wheezy." Santana growled at the screen.

"Aww, don't be mean to your friend, Santana." Dani smiled at Mercedes. "But I think we will say goodnight."

"I like her…" Mercedes was saying as Dani reached over and shut the laptop.

Santana turned around and pulled Dani into a searing kiss, running her hands all over Dani's bare curves.

Dani reached out and took the champagne bottle from Santana's hand, then broke the kiss, turned and walked straight toward Santana's bedroom.

Santana watched her go, eyes tracking over Dani's thighs, over her hips, to the tattoo on her ribs that Santana couldn't wait to investigate more closely. The champagne bottle hung loosely in her hand, and she walked with an easy, sensuous saunter.

Dani paused at the curtains that enclosed Santana's bedroom area. She turned to look at Santana over her shoulder. "Coming?"

Dani gave Santana a little smile and bit her lower lip, just the way she had when she asked Santana to watch that first sunset together.

"Oh, hell yes." Santana said, and practically ran to catch up.


End file.
